All posts in The Middle East

Tom Ridge

By | 03/2011 | American Affairs, Authors, BUSINESS, Crisis Management, Current Events, Cyber-security, Defense, Disaster Preparedness, Global Economy/Trade, International Affairs, Leadership, Patriotism, Political Leaders, POLITICS / WORLD AFFAIRS, Risk Management, Terrorism, The Middle East | Comments Off
Tom Ridge

A decorated Vietnam veteran, former governor, Cabinet official and international statesman, Tom Ridge understands what and where the threats are today – and how they will affect the United States and its allies in the future. As America’s first head of homeland security, he successfully achieved the biggest change management challenge of all time – quickly integrating 180,000 people from nearly two-dozen agencies, creating a culture of change within the new department and leading a national effort to make America more secure. Read more…

Clark Winter

By | 02/2011 | Asia, BUSINESS, Economic Outlook, ECONOMY, Emerging Markets, Financial Markets, Future Trends / Futurists, Global Economy/Trade, Investing, Latin America, Mergers & Acquisitions, Personal Finance, Risk Management, The Market, The Middle East | Comments Off
Clark Winter-

Clark Winter is an internationally known commentator on the world economy, global financial markets and geopolitics. He founded Winter Capital International, an independent advisory firm that structured multi-manager portfolios by harnessing the talents of independent investment managers working worldwide; the company was later acquired by Citigroup and Winter served as the chief global investment strategist for Citigroup Global Wealth Management, Citi Private Bank, and Smith Barney, and was director of portfolio strategy and managing director of Goldman Sachs & Co. Read more…

Marvin Zonis

By | 01/2011 | Asia, Authors, Crisis Management, Economic Outlook, ECONOMY, Emerging Markets, Global Economy/Trade, Globalization, International Affairs, Political Analysis, Risk Management, Terrorism, The Middle East, World Affairs | Comments Off
Marvin Zonis

Marvin Zonis is a leading expert on the global economy and on political risk. Professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Zonis’ insights into the intersection of politics, economics and emerging technologies make him a valuable and always timely keynote speaker for a vast range of businesses and organizations. His sharpest skill is presenting, in vivid detail illustrated by real world examples, the developments and trends impacting the contemporary social, political and economic landscape. The former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, he is an authority on Middle Eastern politics, and has spent the last 50 years studying the volatile mix of Islam, terrorism, and the Middle East. At the University of Chicago, he continues to teach courses on International Political Economy, Leadership, and Business Strategy in the Era of E-Commerce, and consults with corporations and professional asset management firms throughout the world, helping them to identify, assess, and manage their political risks in the changing global environment. Zonis is a member of the Board of Directors of CNA Financial, serves on the Board of the Institute for Psychoanalysis and is a Fellow of Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, a global consulting firm. He is also a member of the U.S. Comptroller General’s Board of Advisers at the GAO. Zonis has written extensively on the intersection of digital technologies and globalization, emerging markets, Middle Eastern politics, the oil industry, Russia, and U.S. foreign policy. His writing has been featured in The Financial Times, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Chief Executive Magazine, La Vanguardia, The Boston Globe, and the Japanese journal Nikkei Weekly. His books include The Kimchi Matters: Global Business and Local Politics in a Crisis Driven World; The Eastern European Opportunity; Majestic Failure: The Fall of the Shah; Khomeini and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and his latest, Risk Rules: How Local Politics Threaten The Global Economy, which shows that globalization (and events like the recent overthrow of the long-time leaders in Egypt and Tunis; the global recession triggered by the U.S. credit crisis in 2008; and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) makes understanding the political economies of different countries more important than ever. He is a commentator for a range of media outlets, including NPR, the BBC, and ABC News, where he served as a special consultant for the Middle East. Read more…

Ted Fishman

By | 01/2011 | Aging, Asia, Authors, Baby Boomers, Change, China, Demographics, Economic Outlook, ECONOMY, Emerging Markets, Europe, Family Relationships, Future Trends / Futurists, Global Economy/Trade, Globalization, Healthcare, Medicare, Outsourcing, Retirement, Social Security, Society & Culture, The Middle East, World Affairs | Comments Off
Ted Fishman

Ted C. Fishman is a veteran journalist, essayist and former member and trader of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. His talks reflect the intelligently researched material found in his writing and have most recently focused on the emergence of China and its impact on the lives of Americans as consumers, workers, managers, and citizens. Fishman’s presentations combine engaging storytelling with a wide ranging knowledge about the world economy, putting his audiences’ top concerns into context and exploring how they relate to big, global economic trends. Read more…

Joe Ruffini

By | 01/2011 | BUSINESS, Crisis Management, Cyber-security, Defense, Disaster Preparedness, Globalization, Identity Theft, Information Technology, Risk Management, Strategic Planning, Terrorism, The Middle East | Comments Off
Joe Ruffini -

Joseph Ruffini brings more than 25 years of experience from a broad array of fields including infrastructure security, counter-terrorist operations, risk management, and more to the private and civil sectors. Formerly an army lieutenant colonel charged with defending the United States and Canada against cyber intrusions, international terrorist plots, and nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks, Ruffini is currently an executive strategic information operations consultant supporting US Strategic Command, the Interagency, and the National Security Council, and US Central Command in Qatar and Iraq. Ruffini is a featured government, corporate, and personal security theorist, keynote speaker, and subject matter expert. His role in infrastructure security, counter-terrorist operations, operations security, information warfare and operations, command and operations, logistics management, training and education, and risk management combine to form a motivating “how-to” management presentation. Ruffini authored When Terror Comes to Main Street, an informative, straightforward, hard-hitting book for everyday people that boils down Ruffini’s lifetime of knowledge and operational experience into one all-inclusive read. Read more…

Robin Wright

By | 01/2011 | Africa, Authors, BUSINESS, Globalization, International Affairs, Journalists, MISCELLANEOUS, Political Analysis, Political Media, Terrorism, The Middle East, Women's Issues | Comments Off
Robin Wright

Award-winning journalist and author Robin Wright has spent her professional life reporting from more than 140 countries on six continents; her foreign tours include the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and several years as a roving foreign correspondent. She has covered a dozen wars and several revolutions, and most recently covered U.S. foreign policy for The Washington Post. Her book, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam, is a seminal treatise on terrorism, and she has written extensively about Muslim extremism, the Middle East and Iran’s place in global politics and the war on terrorism. Read more…

Michael Colopy

By | 01/2011 | American Affairs, Asia, China, Conflict Resolution, Crisis Management, Current Events, Cyber-security, Diplomacy, Disaster Preparedness, Emerging Markets, Energy, Energy Issues, Financial Markets, Global Economy/Trade, Globalization, India, International Affairs, Moderators/Facilitators, Outsourcing, Political Analysis, POLITICS / WORLD AFFAIRS, Risk Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Terrorism, The Middle East, World Affairs | Comments Off
Michael Colopy-

Michael Colopy’s presentation method is brain-stretching, enlightening and memorable. Colopy addresses corporate and association audiences on global trends and the challenges US business faces around the world, especially in dealings with China, a country he knows well. In a bracing narrative style, incorporating new developments – including the morning’s news – he conveys deep and broad knowledge, navigating, analyzing and forecasting world currents since 1988. The lively and unrehearsed Q & A portion of his presentations engages audience members directly, customizing the session to the interests of participants. Educated at Princeton, Michael Colopy’s research projects have taken him to Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Ukraine, El Salvador, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the PRC, France, the UK and Venezuela. Colopy learned through firsthand experience how the attitudes and agendas of other nations can affect the American brand. He understands US government policy processes well, having served as staff in both the US House and Senate, partner in a major DC lobbying firm, consultant to foreign governments and advisor to Fortune One Hundred corporations and trade associations of every stripe. Colopy’s record of accurate predictions stands out; he has anticipated and tracked global trends, regional developments (especially in East Asia), leadership choices, political agendas, economic shifts and currency policies, connecting the dots among such distinct factors as the re-emergence of China’s reformers under Prime Minister Wen Jia-bao, transformation of the labor market, competition for commodity resources, pollution, alarming pressures on US corporations (forced transfers of IP, for example), the Google confrontation, skewing state investments to favor populist programs, the evolving “hostage capital” dilemma and the changing face of internal discontent. Colopy deftly unbraids the intricacies of Japan’s foreign policy, its trade and political disputes with China, the collapse of its economic renewal agenda, the lethargic response of ministries, rising security anxieties and the fundamental crisis of its aging population. He also reviews positive prospects in Vietnam and the Philippines, political re-stabilizing in Thailand and Malaysia, resurgence in Indonesia and the strategically crucial regional role of Australia. Colopy’s dynamic style, recently described as “the antidote to jet lag”, is articulate, clear and directly responsive to his audience. He is especially known for his humorous asides – he offers no feel-good “happy talk” but practical, highly specific and insightful assessments. Michael Colopy readily challenges old orthodoxies when evidence and patterns warrant or to test the validity of a plan or policy. His combination of wit, broad knowledge, practical information and energetic style has impressed hundreds of audiences and earned him among the highest rates of repeat appearance in America. Read more…

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